A Tool Bar is a horizontal or vertical sequence of icons, buttons or task panes on a computer screen some or all of which execute a command when clicked by the user's cursor. Most Tool Bars are used to display functions that are useful to a specific software application. The term “Tool Bar” is used herein to refer to any such functional bar display or equivalents including toolbars, status bars, button bars, menu bars, address bars and task bars.
Tool Bars are generally provided or distributed to computer users in the following ways:
i) The manufacturer of a software application includes the Tool Bar in a distribution of the software. For example, Microsoft Word™ has a “Draw” Tool Bar that is included with Microsoft Word. This Tool Bar displays short cuts to functions useful when drawing a diagram.
ii) Third parties wishing to include functionalities that drive users to a specific service or software application distribute Tool Bars directly to the users, such as by downloads off the Internet.
These Tool Bars are often advertised on a web site and are downloaded by users wishing to benefit from the features offered by the Tool Bar. For example, Google distributes a “Search” Tool Bar that allows users to conduct Google searches without first going to the Google website.
In each of these scenarios, the user must:
i) Deliberately install the Tool Bar in order to have access to the functions displayed in the Tool Bar. The user must seek out the Tool Bar and either activate it (as in Microsoft Word's “Draw” Tool Bar) or install it (as in Google's “Search” Tool Bar); and
ii) Continue to use the Tool Bar. If the user uninstalls the Tool Bar, the Tool Bar ceases to be visible to the user. Additionally, most Tool Bars do not provide a revenue opportunity for the Tool Bar provider in the form of advertisements in the Tool Bar.
While it has been known to include advertising in Tool Bars, there is a problem with the existing approach. If a Tool Bar contains an advertising medium, such as text or video advertisements, the financial effectiveness of the Tool Bar is minimized if the user a) fails to adopt the use of the Tool Bar; or b) uninstalls the Tool Bar after if has been adopted.
With respect to a user's failure to adopt a Tool Bar, the rate at which users adopt conventional Tool Bars is limited by a process that depends upon the user. The user must become aware of the Tool Bar's existence by seeking out the functionality or encountering the Tool Bar on a website. In effect, a marketing process must be used to create user awareness or the user must play an active role in the discovery of the Tool Bar. Or a user may deliberately activate a function embedded in an existing software application (e.g. the “Draw” Tool Bar in Microsoft Word) or download and install a Tool Bar (e.g. the “Search” Tool Bar provided by Google). In effect, the user must make a value judgment based upon the perceived benefits of the Tool Bar's functionality and install the Tool Bar. Consequently, the vast majority of computer users only use Tool Bars provided by the major software suppliers in the computer industry, who either have a large installed base of users or have the marketing presence to create awareness.
With respect to uninstalled Tool Bars, conventional Tool Bars are easily uninstalled and the consequences are limited to a temporary loss of functionality, as the user can always reinstall the Tool Bar in the future. Additionally, a user switching from Google's “Search” Tool Bar to Yahoo's “Search” Tool Bar does not experience a net loss of functionality. In the existing software and marketing industry, Tool Bars have a transient user base. Users can uninstall Tool Bars without ongoing consequences. If a Tool Bar containing advertisements that display on the computer user's desktop is uninstalled, the revenue stream gained from those advertisements is lost. A loss of a Tool Bar user results in a loss of advertising revenue.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.